What's new
  • ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!

Bueno Grows w/ DIY COB LEDs

Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
These pictures really suck but its all I got quick while harvesting the TPOGs and SK last night. They were too floppy to stand on their own upright so I chopped them at the base and hung upside down for the pics which is why they arent the greatest.

D70.5 12/12 Harvest

Starkiller

picture.php


Truepower OG #2

picture.php


picture.php


Truepower OG #4s

picture.php


picture.php
 
Dready_jake

Dready_jake

Member
Ya thanks. I'm debating between an all out copy of the 400 watter, or throwing the extra driver and 4 cobs onto a slightly larger heatsink and go for the 600.

It will depend on if and when I can afford compiling the parts. And what i can afford then. But if I'm investing in a light, im going all out and doing either his 400 or the 600 upgraded version
 
A

anasrzi

New member
Been able to source some mean well drives but only at 60w rating, I've seen youve used 50w ones before but again it's harder for me to find those over here in the u.k, so would the 60w ones do the job even tho there running at a higher wattage?

Here's the codes on the drivers - lpc 60-1750 and the others are lpc 60-12. Both the same price and wattage but I'm unsure one the other specifics. Got everything else in place now just the drivers need selecting, I'd sooner have a quality driver and pay more I'll go for MW
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
anasrzi said:
Been able to source some mean well drives but only at 60w rating, I've seen youve used 50w ones before but again it's harder for me to find those over here in the u.k, so would the 60w ones do the job even tho there running at a higher wattage?

Here's the codes on the drivers - lpc 60-1750 and the others are lpc 60-12. Both the same price and wattage but I'm unsure one the other specifics. Got everything else in place now just the drivers need selecting, I'd sooner have a quality driver and pay more I'll go for MW
Click to expand...

I used the MW LPC-60-1400 drivers first on my CXA3070s before switching to the JHX LED drivers on those. The LPC-60-1750 are only 87% efficient which isnt that bad but could be quite a bit better. The LPC-60-1750 only has a max vF of 34v and a CXA3070 will need around 37v or so, so I wouldnt recommend that driver for that reason. I couldnt find any info on the LPC-60-12 on a quick search but it sounds like a 12v output driver from the part number so that wouldnt work for you if that is the case.
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I almost forgot to mention earlier today I was playing with the driver for my flowering fixture (HLG-185H-C1400A) and it dims all the way down to 78w draw and 215w power draw max, tested with a kill a watt, so it will dim to ~36%, it is rated 50%-100% dimming in the datasheets but is able to dim lower in actual practice.
 
A

anasrzi

New member
Thanks for getting back to me on that I'll attempt to source some better models of drivers. The cobs, heat sink and fan etc are easy for me to grab, the driver on the other hand never looks quite right, so I'll look for the MW 60-1400 again and the jhx ones too.
 
A

anasrzi

New member
Right I've sourced some MW 60-1400 ones but there two types? Both look the same but are at differing prices (£16 the other £30) now the higher priced one says "constant current" the other does not, as well as that it also says it's AC. The cheaper one says as/dc.

I'm not technical enough to know what all the letters an numbers mean any advice?

Looked for the jhx ones and can't find those over here, any others I could look up? Don't mind paying the cost for the right/long working driver just don't want to get the wrong one lol
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
anasrzi said:
Right I've sourced some MW 60-1400 ones but there two types? Both look the same but are at differing prices (£16 the other £30) now the higher priced one says "constant current" the other does not, as well as that it also says it's AC. The cheaper one says as/dc.

I'm not technical enough to know what all the letters an numbers mean any advice?

Looked for the jhx ones and can't find those over here, any others I could look up? Don't mind paying the cost for the right/long working driver just don't want to get the wrong one lol
Click to expand...

30 pounds is an insane price for an LPC-60-1400, 16 pounds seems right around where they go for in the US. As far as I know I have only heard of or seen one model of LPC-60-1400 and they are all AC to DC constant current drivers, AC input and DC output with 1400mA constant current, I would get the cheaper one. Maybe post a link if you can so I can make sure its right before you buy.

As far as I know the JHX drivers we were using for CXA3070s sold out several months ago and the seller restocked with some crap quality drivers that dont perform to rated specs, so those are a no go, I wouldnt bother looking for them anymore.
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Man Im kind of been having a hard time with the camera settings lately and not being able to get real top quality pics but I have some that are ok. Doesnt quite do the buds justice as seen in person, the bag appeal is crazy on the OX F2 #2.

Whats left of the Sour Bubble F2 #2, I smoked almost all of it already.

picture.php


OX F2 #1

picture.php


OX F2 #2s

picture.php


picture.php
 
fuggzy

fuggzy

Member
Fan choice

Fan choice

Bueno Time said:
I was wrong on my wiring idea for the 35x Vero 10s and now that I thought that through and figured that out, rather than wiring the COBs across different heatsink bars I changed the plan from 5x 32" bars with 7x Vero 10s per bar to 7x 20" bars with 5x Vero 10s per bar.Still one 50mm fan per bar in the center with covered fins forcing air down the length of the sink. The overall length of 2.08" profile is reduced 20" and max watt/inch went up to ~1.37 from ~1.19 (probably wont even run it quite maxed out but maybe). There would be 7 fans vs 5 though in the newest revision, each cooling a 20" long bar vs 32" long so that may well increase the cooling effect of the fans enough to make up for the loss of heatsink length overall.

Im expecting an increase of about 10C above ambient in tent temperature with the active cooling. Kind of hard to tell though until you build it and actually put it into action in the grow space.

Heres an idea of the proposed plan for anyone interested. ~27.4w per 20" length of 2.08" profile with 1 50mm fan per bar.

TOP

View Image

BOTTOM

View Image
Click to expand...

Hi Bueno. Those bud are great looking man. I can't wait till I'm able to produce my own

I really like the idea of using 1 fan, over covered fins. I've been ordering parts based on this design. I was looking at regular pc case fans, and at 50mm, most I saw looked really weak. I started looking at delta fans for a higher static pressure. I don't exactly understand how to figure in static pressure, but do know that with added resistance, the higher the SP the better.

My question is with the fins being covered, do you think any ol' case fan will do, or should a higher static pressure be needed?

I found http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=AFB0512HB-F00&WT.z_header=search_go (although cheaper else where).
While poking around Digi-key, i also found http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=AFB0512HB-F00&WT.z_header=search_go at about a 3rd the price. The Sunon fan uses their "Vapo bearing system" which I'm not sure if they will do okay mounted horizontally. I'm waiting on a response from them now. Would you have a budget minded fa to recommend?

Thanks ahead of time. :thank you:

Good luck & have fun
Fuggzy
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
fuggzt said:
Hi Bueno. Those bud are great looking man. I can't wait till I'm able to produce my own

I really like the idea of using 1 fan, over covered fins. I've been ordering parts based on this design. I was looking at regular pc case fans, and at 50mm, most I saw looked really weak. I started looking at delta fans for a higher static pressure. I don't exactly understand how to figure in static pressure, but do know that with added resistance, the higher the SP the better.

My question is with the fins being covered, do you think any ol' case fan will do, or should a higher static pressure be needed?

I found http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=AFB0512HB-F00&WT.z_header=search_go (although cheaper else where).
While poking around Digi-key, i also found http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=AFB0512HB-F00&WT.z_header=search_go at about a 3rd the price. The Sunon fan uses their "Vapo bearing system" which I'm not sure if they will do okay mounted horizontally. I'm waiting on a response from them now. Would you have a budget minded fa to recommend?

Thanks ahead of time. :thank you:

Good luck & have fun
Fuggzy
Click to expand...

I havent installed the fans yet on the fixture but when I tested one 50mm fan on an overpowered heatsink to see how effective it was before buying more, I was quite surprised by how much cooler the fan kept the sink with only a small amount of airflow over/through the fins/channels. It went from pretty hot to the touch to what felt like a neutral or near ambient temperature to the skin (didnt use an IR thermometer which would be ideal).

It doesnt take much air movement to greatly increase the cooling efficiency of the heatsink you mostly need to just "break" the stagnant air on/against the surface of the sink/fins to increase the cooling pretty significantly. However if you were using a lot of power on a relatively small sink you would want more flow to compensate for the lack of heatsink material. So if you arent sure how much flow you need go with something bigger or with higher flow and/or higher SP to try to make sure you get the air movement that you will need. You can always dial down the voltage to the fans to save some power that might be wasted by running it at full blast. Its hard (impossible) to make a fan that is too weak, stronger. Overkill is always good in my opinion.

I got my little 50mm fans on ebay for $2 each. They are small (50mm diameter) and dont move a whole lot of air but are sufficient for my needs in this case since I dont need a ton of air flow to keep the sinks/LEDs cool. I havent yet ran the fixture turned up high enough to need the fans installed but during testing of the 50mm fans, I used more watts (heat) per linear inch of the same heatsink profile to test the fans cooling potential on this particular sink profile and it was a success.
 
fuggzy

fuggzy

Member
Getting blown on the cheap

Getting blown on the cheap

Bueno Time said:
I havent installed the fans yet on the fixture but when I tested one 50mm fan on an overpowered heatsink to see how effective it was before buying more, I was quite surprised by how much cooler the fan kept the sink with only a small amount of airflow over/through the fins/channels. It went from pretty hot to the touch to what felt like a neutral or near ambient temperature to the skin (didnt use an IR thermometer which would be ideal).

It doesnt take much air movement to greatly increase the cooling efficiency of the heatsink you mostly need to just "break" the stagnant air on/against the surface of the sink/fins to increase the cooling pretty significantly. However if you were using a lot of power on a relatively small sink you would want more flow to compensate for the lack of heatsink material. So if you arent sure how much flow you need go with something bigger or with higher flow and/or higher SP to try to make sure you get the air movement that you will need. You can always dial down the voltage to the fans to save some power that might be wasted by running it at full blast. Its hard (impossible) to make a fan that is too weak, stronger. Overkill is always good in my opinion.

I got my little 50mm fans on ebay for $2 each. They are small (50mm diameter) and dont move a whole lot of air but are sufficient for my needs in this case since I dont need a ton of air flow to keep the sinks/LEDs cool. I havent yet ran the fixture turned up high enough to need the fans installed but during testing of the 50mm fans, I used more watts (heat) per linear inch of the same heatsink profile to test the fans cooling potential on this particular sink profile and it was a success.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response BT. You've got good points. I didn't really look at it as breaking the stagnant air, but it makes sense. I do agree with overkill is always good. When I built my gaming pc, I wanted to push it to its max. This involved a full size case, over sized everything I could and a total of 13 case fans and a liquid cooled cpu. It chews through multi monitor gaming, and multiple apps w/o chucking my office full of heat.

I did plan on running them off their own psu, and with a speed controller. Which i have on hand already. Depending on what "Vapo bearing system" really means, I'll most likely choose the Sunon fans. I put the wrong link on the cheaper fan (sunon). it is at http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=175181762&uq=635713039722860341. :joint: They are about $4.50 ea after shipping (6 with cheapest shipping).

I did have a look at ebay, and saw the $2 fans, but they are sleeve bearing. At least the the fans that had it posted, and I assume the rest are too. For anyone that needs info on fan bearing types, and mounting them...http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/779-computer-case-fan-bearing-differences I'll most likely run the fans 24hr, and wear a sleeve bearing much faster than a standard pc use.

By the way.... Whats your favorite strain that you have grown in the past? Thanks for keeping this journey an interesting one.

Good luck & have fun
Fuggzy
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Good point, its a good idea to get better quality fans and spend a little more for the quality and peace of mind that comes with the reliability. When I get around to installing my cheap fans I will make sure to keep an eye on them.
 
Bueno Time

Bueno Time

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
anasrzi said:
Here's the parts I've sourced so far Bueno tell me what you think overall, the cobs I've already found at digi key so that's sorted

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=161560006511
Heat sink and fan

That sink and fan combo will work fine, I prefer the Alpine 11 Plus but the Alpine 11 GT Rev 2 work too and are almost the same. Alpine 11 Plus has 92mm fan and better/easier mounting brackets with holes built in to hang from vs Alpine 11 GT Rev 2 that has 80mm fan and harder to mount or hang the modules.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=181618787431
Thermal paste for cob

I would use something better quality than that. Your thermal interface between the COB and sink is important to get the most light and life out of your LED system. I would use a thermal paste (not adhesive) such as Artic Silver 5 or Prolimatech PK-2 or PK-3, the one you linked is a cheap silicone thermal ADHESIVE. If you dont want to deal with drilling and tapping holes and using screws to mount the COBs then you would use a thermal adhesive like you linked, though its not the best option it will work if you feel this is the route you want to go.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=161318285254
Mean well driver (cheaper one)

That driver will work fine for your needs, it is what I started with on my first COB module builds.

Thanks for all the advice, means a lot :)
Click to expand...

anasrzi said:
Linked the cobs now too so you can see what I can get hold of over here in Britain :) two types of cob on offer, I'm favouring the second one linked, but might be wrong

http://www.digikey.co.uk/short/t7f37n
Z450f

This is CXA3070 5000K spectrum, not recommended for flowering use, way too much blue and not enough red for effective flowering use. Excellent for vegging though Im sure.

http://www.digikey.co.uk/short/t7f3tq
Z230f
Click to expand...

This is the one you would want, they are only Z2 bin though so somewhat outdated in performance now days vs the newer bins that are harder to find, but they are 3000K spectrum and will work well for flowering by themselves without added red LEDs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top